Wool scouring machines



Jan. 17, 1967 M. T BOWE WOOL SCOURING MACHINES Filed Aug. 24, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 17, 1967 M. T. BOWE WOOL SCOURING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 24, 1964 United States Patent l 3,298,208 WOOL SCOURING MACHINES Maurice Thomas Bowe, Rochdale, England, assignor to Petrie 8: McNaught Limited, Rochdale, England, a British company Filed Aug. 24, 1964, Ser. No. 391,484 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Aug. 28, 1963, 33,999/ 63 Claims. (Ql. 68-158) This invention relates to means for moving loose fibrous material through liquors during a continuous washing process.

A known means of propelling fibrous materials, such as wool, cotton, man-made fibres, through washing and rinsing liquor contained in the tanks of a washing machine, is by a so-called harrow motion. This consists of a series of rows of prongs attached to suitable transverse members, which in turn are secured to longitudinal members extending over a greater part of the length of the tank. An oscillatory motion is given to these prongs and supporting members by suitable mechanical means. The prongs are immersed in the liquor during their forward movement and slowly propel the fibres towards the delivery end of the tank with successive strokes.

Although this motion is gentle in its action a certain degree of entanglement of the wool fibres is caused which is reflected in the proportion of long to short fibres obtained from the wool combing process, due to fibre breakage in the preceding carding operation.

The object of the present invention is to provide means for preventing inter-fibre movement, so as to reduce the entanglement of the fibres in the washing process.

The arrangement according to the invention comprises a plurality of paddle members carried by reciprocable carriers and means for holding the paddle members vertical during forward travel and horizontal during backward travel, the paddle members having perforated leading faces and back plates arranged to allow liquid to flow out during forward movement while preventing liquid from entering the paddle member, during its retraction.

The carriers move in straight line motion forwards and backwards lengthways along the machine and can be driven by suitable known means such as a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder or a crank and sliding connecting rod. The paddle member retracting and lowering mechanism, which is carried by the carriers and has therefore the same motion as the latter, as well as a separate motion of its own, can be operated by means of another hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder or by a composite internal and external cam and chain drive.

During a scouring operation the material to be washed is fed into the wash'bowl by suitable known means, such as a brattice. When the paddle members move forward in the liquor, the fibrous material floating in the water is deposited on the leading perforated faces of the paddle members due to the action of the liquor flowing through the perforations. The pressure set up against the leading faces of the paddle members due to this flow of liquor is suificient to hold the material against the leading faces without inter fibre movement, until it is liberated by the retraction of the paddle members out of the liquor.

The effective liberation of the mass of material occurs when, as the paddle members are retracted out of the liquor when the forward stroke is almost completed, the liquor contained in the interior of the paddle member drains out through the perforations in the leading faces, by the action of gravity, back into the tank, releasing the fibres in the process. To ensure that sutficient liquor is held in the interior of the paddle members to effect Patented Jan. 17, 1967 ,in through the perforations immediately before the retracting action began.

Any desired trajectory of the paddle members lowering into, or retracting out of the liquor can be achieved by convenient mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic or elec trical means, independent of the movement of the longitudinal members, by means of proper synchronisation of the two separate motions, so as to produce the best result both as regards the efiiciency of the mechanism and the end product of the scouring operation.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic longitudinal section through a wool scouring machine according to the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic cross-section.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view.

FIGURE 4- is a diagram showing the movements of the paddle members.

FIGURE 5 is an electrical and pneumatic circuit diagram.

The wool is scoured in a tank 1 to which it is supplied by a conveyor 2 and which contains scouring liquor to the level 4. Paddle members 3 are used to propel the wool through the tank 1 to the delivery end, where a harrow 7 discharges it to squeeze rollers 6.

The paddles 3 are attached at their upper ends by webs 5 to transverse rods 16 which are rotatably mounted in two carriers 8 which can slide longitudinally on rollers 18 in brackets 24 attached to the sides of the tank 1. A connecting rod 17 is connected by arms 14 to the rods 10 so that all the rods 10 can be turned simultaneously. A pneumatic cylinder ill is mounted by means of brackets 12 on the carriers 8, its piston rod 13 being connected to one of the arms 14. The stroke of the piston rod 13 is such that between its fully retracted and fully extended positions it turns the arms 14 and consequently the paddles 3 through A pneumatic cylinder 19 is carried by brackets 20 fixed in the tank 1. Its piston rod 21 is attached to a cross-member 22 connecting the two carriers 8 together. A valve 25 controls the liow of air to the cylinder 19.

The cylinder 19 incorporates electric switches 33, 34 which are closed by the piston when it reaches the ends of its travel, and are connected between electricity supply terminals and solenoids 26 and 26a operating pilot valves 25a and 25b to control the valve 25.

The flow of air to the cylinder 11 is controlled by a valve 32. There are trip switches 27, 28 operated by a carrier 8 at opposite ends of its travel, connected between electricity supply terminals and solenoids 31, 31a operating pilot valves 32a and 32b to control the valve 32.

In the operation of the machine, wool is supplied by the conveyor 2 to the left hand end of the tank 1 and is caused to travel through the tank by the paddle members 3 being moved to the right while in a vertical position. Each paddle member 3 has its leading face perforated as at 36 so that wash liquor can pass through while the wool in general does not pass through. The rear wall 35 'of each paddle member is hinged at 37 at the top and swings backwards as the member moves forwards, to allow the liquor to flow through. Towards the end of their movement to the right, the paddle members 3 are turned through 90 by the action of the pneumatic cylinder lid, and are moved out of the liquor in a curved path to the position 311 shown in FIGURE 4. They then move to the left in a horizontal position until they reach the position 3b shortly before the end of 3 the travel to the left, and are then turned back through 90 to the vertical position, ready to be moved to the right again.

The movements of the paddle members are obtained in the following manner, referring to FIGURE 5. In this figure, the position is shown where the carriers 8 have moved to the right and the paddle members 3 have been turned to the horizontal position. The piston in cylinder 19 has actuated the switch 34, energising solenoid 26 and opening pilot valve 25a. Air from the air supply pipe 36 has been admitted to the barrel of valve 25, moving the valve member to the right to allow air to pass to the right hand side of cylinder 19 to drive the piston to the left and commence the return stroke of the carriers 8. These move to the left, and just before the end of the stroke the trip switch 27 is actuated, whereby solenoid 31 is energised and pilot valve 32a is opened, admittin air to the barrel of valve 32 to move the valve member to the right to allow air to pass to the right hand side of cylinder 11. The piston rod 13 then retracts, turning the paddle members 3 to the vertical position, this movement being completed at the same time as the return stroke of the carriers 8. At the end of its stroke the piston in cylinder 19 actuates the switch 33 which energises the solenoid 26a to open pilot valve 25b, whereby valve 25 is caused to change over and the piston is caused to move to the right again, driving the carriers 8 with the paddle mem bers 3 vertical. Towards the end of the stroke, the trip switch 28 is actuated, whereby solenoid 31a is energised and pilot valve 32b is opened, valve 32 being changed over to move the piston in cylinder 11 to the right to swing the members 3 to the horizontal position. When the piston in cylinder 19 reaches the end of its stroke it actuates switch 34 and the cycle is repeated.

What is claimed is:

1. Means for moving loose fibrous material through liquors in a washing machine, comprising a plurality of paddle members carried by reciprocable carriers and means for holding the paddle members vertical during forward travel and horizontal during backward travel, the paddle members having perforated leading faces and back plates arranged to allow liquid to flow out during forward movement while preventing liquid from entering the paddle member, during its retraction.

2. Means as claimed in claim 1, in which the car riers move in straight line motion forwards and backwards lengthways along the machine and are drawn by a pneumatic cylinder.

3. Means as claimed in claim 1, in which the paddle member retracting and lowering mechanism is carried by the carriers and comprises a pneumatic cylinder and a linkage enabling the paddle members to be turned through during the last part of each stroke of the carriers.

4. Means as claimed in claim 1 having pneumatic cylinders for reciprocating the carriers and for producing the movements of the carriers.

5. Means as claimed in claim 1, in which the paddle members have hinged back plates which close in the horizontal position of the paddle members.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 679,439 7/1901 Tatterson 68-158 FOREIGN PATENTS 92,040 6/1871 France.

4,799 1909 Great Britain.

IRVING BUNEVICH, Primary Examiner. WALTER A. SCHEEL, Examiner. 

1. MEANS FOR MOVING LOOSE FIBROUS MATERIAL THROUGH LIQUORS IN A WASHING MACHINE, COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF PADDLE MEMBERS CARRIED BY RECIPROCABLE CARRIERS AND MEANS FOR HOLDING THE PADDLE MEMBERS VERTICAL DURING FORWARD TRAVEL AND HORIZONTAL DURING BACKWARD TRAVEL, THE PADDLE MEMBERS HAVING PERFORATED LEADING FACES AND BACK PLATES ARRANGED TO ALLOW LIQUID TO FLOW OUT DURING FORWARD MOVEMENT WHILE PREVENTING LIQUID FROM ENTERING THE PADDLE MEMBER, DURING ITS RETRACTION. 